Cattle-guard for railways.



c; 1?. MoKINNEY.

GATTLE GUARD FOR RAILWAYS, APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23, 1910.

962,379, Patented June 21,1910.

UN S ATES CLABORN P. MCKINNEY, OF SKIATOOK, OKLAHOMA.

CATTLE-GUARD FOR RAILWAYS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 21, 1910.

Application filed February 23, 1910. Serial No. 545,384.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLABoRN P. MCKIN- NEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Skiatook, in the county of Tulsa and State of Oklahoma, have invented a new and useful Cattle-Guard for Railways, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to cattle guards for use along railways and its object is to provide a device of this character consisting of a plurality of panels mounted for swinging movement between and at the sides of the rails of the track.

A further object is to provide a series of panels any one of which can be actuated a predetermined distance without causing a corresponding movement of the remaining panels, the connections being such, however, that when any one of the panels is subjected to more than a predetermined pressure, all of the adjoining panels will be simultaneously elevated.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings, Figure l is a plan view of a cattle guard constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of said cattle guard, the rails and a portion of the connecting bar being shown in section. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through a portion of the guard and showing the intermediate section partly tilted without affecting the adjoining side section.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference A designates one of the ties of the track, the same being provided between the rail O with upstanding brackets 1 within which is mounted a pivot rod 2. Parallel side bars 3 are journaled upon this rod, preferably between the brackets and the adjoining rails B and these side bars are connected at desired intervals by cross bars 4, all of the bars being preferably toothed or serrated along their upper faces. A tread strip 5 connects the side bars 3 at one end. The pivot rod 2 is parallel with the tread strip 5 and is interposed between said strip and the cross bars 4.

Additional brackets 6 are secured upon the tie Abeyond the sides of the rails 13 and are arranged in pairs, each pair sup porting a pivot rod 7, on which is mounted a guard frame 8. Each of these frames consists of side, end and intermediate bars suitably connected and tread boards 9 are also preferably attached to the side bars thereof, the said tread boards being disposed in alinement with the tread board 5 while the rods 7 are in alinement with the pivot rods 2.

Tapered openings 10 are formed in the side portions of the tread boards 5 and 9 and loosely mounted within these openings are hangers 10 which also extend loosely through a coupling bar 11. This bar extends under the rails B and between the ties and also can tends transversely under the guard sections. The said guard sections normally rest in horizontal positions between and at the sides of the rails and they are sufficiently heavy to overbalance the bar 11. Should an animal approach the guard and place a portion of its weight upon the tread board 5, the middle section of the guard would be tilted upwardly toward the animal. This tilting movement is ordinarily suificient to cause the animal to turn back but, should it be insuflicient, and the animal should continue forward by moving to one side of the tilting frame and thus stepping on the adjoining tread board 9, the full weight of said animal will be suflicient to continue the downward movement of the tread boards of one or more of the frames, thus causing the connecting bar 11 to move downward and to pull upon all of the guard sections and elevate them. In other words it will be noted that each guard section is capable of tilting to a limited extent independently of the remaining guard sections but should it be tilted to more than a predetermined angle, it will bear downwardly on the connecting bar 11 and thus elevate all of the guard sections.

It is to be understood that the three sections shown in Fig. 1 can be used in connection with three additional sections disposed oppositely thereto so that an animal approaching the guard from either direction will be halted by it.

A guard such as herein described is very simple in construction, can be readily placed in position, and does not endanger trains passing over it.

Various changes can of course be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the in vention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is l. A cattle guard including separate tilt ably supported sections, each section including a tread board, and means operated by each section when tilted to more than a predetermined angle, for elevating the remaining sections.

2. A cattle guard including separate tiltably supported sections, said sections being independently movable to predetermined angles, and means operated by each section when shifted to more than a predetermined angle, for tilting the remaining sections.

3. A cattle guard including separate tiltably supported sections, a connecting bar extending thereunder, and loose connections between said bar and the respective sections,

said sections being independently movable to predetermined angles, each section when moved more than a predetermined distance, being adapted to contact with the bar and elevate the remaining sections.

4:- A cattle guard including alining brackets, alining pivot rods supported thereby, a frame tiltably mounted upon each of said rods, each frame having a tread board, a connecting bar extending transversely below the frames and under the tread boards,

and rods connecting said bar with each of the frames, said rods being loosely mounted within the frames and bar.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto alfixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CLABORN P. MOKINNEY.

Witnesses:

C. H. CLEVELAND, B. F. PINSON. 

